Springfield joins 100-city rally against verdict in George Zimmerman trial over death of Trayvon Martin

SPRINGFIELD - Protesters in this city on Saturday joined a nationwide movement reacting to the acquittal in the George Zimmerman second-degree murder trial.

In addition to decrying the verdict, civil rights advocates have vowed to keep pressure on the U.S. Department of Justice to bring federal civil rights charges in connection with the shooting death of black youth Trayvon Martin.

Springfield's demonstration was one of 100 across the nation - citing what protesters called a miscarriage of justice after six jurors last week found Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, not guilty of murder after he shot Martin dead in 2012.

Witnesses during the month-long trial in Sanford, Fla., gave occasionally conflicting testimony at the confrontation between the two. However, it was undisputed that Martin, 17, was walking home from a local store unarmed with an iced tea and bag of Skittles when Zimmerman, then 28, confronted him as an intruder in the neighborhood.

The prosecution argued Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was a black youth wearing a hoodie in the rain. The defense put on witnesses who reported Martin began slamming Zimmerman's head on concrete when they clashed, and shot Martin only to protect himself.

The case and the verdict has sparked a public divide over race not seen in decades. President Barack H. Obama said during a press briefing on Friday that Martin "could have been him 35 years ago." Martin's parents joined a rally in Miami.

Several protestors carried signs and wore shirts with the message "I am Trayvon Martin" on them during the Springfield rally. Other signs read "Justice for Trayvon," and "The system is rigged."

"The injustice has got to stop somewhere," said 23-year-old Joshua Rodriguez, among more than 100 protesters gathered on the steps of the federal courthouse on State Street.

Several wore hoodies in the sweltering heat and carried bags of Skittles - arguably the only candy in history to become emblematic in a national civil rights debate.

The local vigil was organized by the Springfield chapter of the NAACP and other social justice and civil rights groups including the Council of Churches, AWAKE, and the newly formed Political Action Council of Greater Springfield.

"This case showed how young black men get profiled and targeted all the time. George Zimmerman confronted him with a mindset," said Anthony Williams, a Springfield attorney and member of the last group. "But we need to have people think about young black men in a different way, not only when tragedies happen."

The Rev. Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP, said the national organization has gone directly to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to urge federal charges against Zimmerman. Swan also denounced what he characterized as an air of disdain by many white Americans regarding the racial overtones of the fallout.

"If people think this isn't about race, they are looking at this through a privileged lens," Swan said.